Jon is a respected and highly-skilled criminal expungement attorney. For more than a decade, Jon has helped hundreds of clients seek expungement of criminal records. Jon’s advocacy includes countless appearances in District Court, as well as several appellate matters before the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court. Jon represented a petitioner in the Minnesota Supreme Court, which resulted in the seminal decision regarding expungement of juvenile records (In re the Welfare of J.J.P., 831 N.W.2d 260 (Minn. 2013)). The Court’s decision in J.J.P. was the impetus to the state Legislature’s passage of a sweeping improvement to Minnesota’s juvenile expungement law, which takes effect on January 1, 2015.

After graduating from William Mitchell College of Law cum laude in 1997, Jon began practicing law with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services ("SMRLS") in St. Paul, Minnesota. Jon repeatedly learned from clients that they struggled to obtain housing or employment solely because of a criminal record. In response, Jon immersed himself in criminal expungement law and became the first attorney in the SMRLS law firm to represent clients in expungement matters. At SMRLS, Jon represented hundreds of clients in expungement matters. In 2006, Jon was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General and represented the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Here, Jon gained a deep knowledge of how criminal records affect licensed professions including child care, foster care, and chemical dependency counseling. In 2009, Jon opened Arneson & Geffen, PLLC with his friend and colleague, Mark Arneson. Together, Jon and Mark have built a firm centered around client empowerment and high-quality legal work.

Jon is well-known for his depth of knowledge and expertise in criminal expungements and he is regularly asked to share his knowledge at legal trainings, community events and other venues. He has also written extensively about criminal expungements, including an oft-cited article titled Chained to the Past: Criminal Expungement in Minnesota. See 31 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 1331 (2005); State v. R.H.B., 821 N.W.2d 824 (Minn. 2012); State v. M.D.T., 831 N.W.2d 276, 298 (Minn. 2013) (Anderson, J., dissenting).(Download the article here: http://open.wmitchell.edu/wmlr/vol31/iss4/1/). Jon has also provided assistance to organizations that advocate at the State Legislature for improvement of expungement laws.

From the time Jon began learning about expungements over ten years ago, Jon has been passionate about helping clients move past previous transgressions. Jon values the opportunity to work with clients that could benefit from expungement of their criminal records.

With the changes to the expungement law beginning January 1, 2015, courts are now able to provide comprehensive relief to deserving individuals. Now is the time to learn if Arneson & Geffen, PLLC can help you seek expungement of your criminal records. To learn more about the services that Jon provides or for a free consultation, please contact him at Jon@arnesongeffen.com or (612) 465-8580.